Angels Win, 6-3, Can Clinch Tonight : Reggie’s Homer Leads Victory Over Cleveland

The days of September are numbered. The days that follow are the ones on which Reggie Jackson has built a reputation.

There has been speculation that Jackson’s playing days--at least those as a California Angel--may also be numbered. But in order to ensure himself of at least one more chance at another glorious October, Jackson has attacked the 19th September of his major league career with a fury.

Thursday night at Anaheim Stadium, Jackson’s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning was the key hit in a 6-3 Angel win over the Cleveland Indians. Chill the champagne.

A crowd of 22,684 saw Jackson hit his fifth home run in his last seven games to help the Angels reduce their magic number to two in the American League West. They can clinch the division title tonight with a victory over the second-place Texas Rangers, the only team to offer them much of a race this season.

Jackson, for one, would have preferred to clinch the title before the surprisingly pesky Rangers came to town for a three-game series.

“I didn’t want to clinch against Texas,” he said. “I wanted to do it before. If you do it against your closest (competing) team, they get to see what winning is like. I don’t like showing a team what it feels like. It can only make that team want it more.”

No one knows more about wanting more than Jackson, who at 40 does not appear ready to let the curtain come down on a career spent mostly at center stage. Here is how he has spent this September thus far: 14 hits in 49 at-bats, 7 home runs and 16 RBIs.

Jackson’s homer off Cleveland reliever Frank Wills--his 18th home run of the season and the 548th of his career--made a winner of Angel right-hander Kirk McCaskill (17-9) and a non-winner of veteran knuckleballer Phil Niekro.

Niekro had held the Angels in check through seven innings. That was hardly surprising, since they went 22 innings without scoring against him in 1985. Niekro, then with the New York Yankees, was 3-0 in three appearences against the Angels.

This time around, he allowed six hits and two runs before leaving the game after seven innings with a 3-2 lead.

Wills entered in the bottom of the eighth and was greeted by Doug DeCinces’ sharp single to center. After falling behind Wills in the count, 1 and 2, Jackson drove a pitch over the left-center-field fence to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. A run-scoring by Bob Boone and a run-scoring sacrifice fly by Gary Pettis in the four-run inning provided the final margin.

Donnie Moore came on in relief in the top of the ninth to record his 21st save.

McCaskill worked eight innings, allowing three runs, three hits and three walks and striking out seven. For those keeping track, there are now only four American League pitchers with more wins than McCaskill, and one of them is teammate Mike Witt, who has 18. McCaskill, though, said he is not one of those keeping track.

“I try not to get caught up with numbers,” he said. “I just want to go out there and do the best I can. Pride is the best motivator on this staff. Each of us wants to do the job, and once you start winning, everybody wants to win.”

McCaskill started smoothly, retiring the first five Cleveland hitters--three on strikeouts--before encountering trouble. With two out in the second, Pat Tabler doubled down the left-field line. That brought up rookie Dave Clark, who entered the game with 6 hits in 26 major league at-bats. Clark lofted a 1-and-0 pitch from McCaskill to center field, where Pettis faded back on the ball until there was no place left to fade. It was Clark’s first big league home run, and it gave the Indians a 2-0 lead.

The Angels tied it in the third with a two-out rally of their own. Ruppert Jones looped a fly ball to shallow center field that got past Brett Butler for a double. Jones took third base when ball four to Brian Downing got past Indian catcher Chris Bando. Wally Joyner’s sharp single to right scored Jones, and DeCinces singled to left-center to drive in Downing and tie it at 2-2.

Cory Snyder gave the Indians a 3-2 lead with his 23rd home run of the season, a two-out blast to center in the seventh inning.

With Niekro and his knuckleball out of the picture, the eighth inning belonged mainly to Jackson. Stay tuned. October approaches.

Angel Notes Manager Gene Mauch’s magic number has been 90 since before the season. Ninety is the number of wins that Mauch predicted would win the American League West this season. But Angel win No. 90 could be the clincher. Said would-be prophet Mauch: “I don’t care about being right. I just care about being first.” . . . Mauch said he doesn’t get particularly excited at the prospect of clinching the division title against Texas, the Angels’ main rival this season. But at least one of Mauch’s players feels otherwise. Said Kirk McCaskill, the winning pitcher Thursday night: “I feel a lot of respect for Texas, personally. They’ve been making us play good baseball all season. In my eyes, it’s fitting that it comes down to the two teams that have been playing the best baseball in the division to play at clinch time.” . . . Bob Boone’s run-scoring single in the eighth inning was his 1,500th career hit . . . Wally Joyner is showing signs of coming out of his mild slump. Joyner had an RBI single in the third inning and has hit safely in five of his last six games. His RBI Tuesday night against the Indians was his first since Sept. 10 in Cleveland. . . . Sunday, when the Angels play the Rangers in their last regular-season home game, is Fan Appreciation Day.